GREENSBURG, Pa. – Top seed and regular-season champ Seton Hill officially went back-to-back for the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Lacrosse Championship that finished Saturday with a win against No. 3 Mercyhurst, 12-5.
The Griffins defended their home territory on DICK’S Sporting Goods Field against the upset-minded Lakers, who had eliminated No. 2 seed Lake Erie in Thursday’s semifinal round.
The conference championship match featured all six Great Midwest individual all-conference award winners that were announced Wednesday, including coach of the year Brian Novotny, offensive player of the year Jack Moran, specialist of the year Brett Craig and goalkeeper of the year Max Eismann.
Mercyhurst’s roster was stacked with two-time defensive player of the year Greg Weyl and freshman of the year Devin Pipher.
The Griffins, ranked third for consecutive weeks in the North Region rankings, will now await word if they will be the first Great Midwest program to make the NCAA Championship bracket. The championship field is comprised of four teams from the North Region and four teams from the South Region.
This marked the second year of the sport of men’s lacrosse in the Great Midwest and the second championship offering after SHU also beat Mercyhurst last spring, in Erie, Pa.
The Griffins will look to carry their pedigree, which includes a near-undefeated season with the exception an overtime nailbiter at the No. 1 team from the South Region, Lenoir-Rhyne, in the second game of the year straight to the national tourney.
Seton Hill won its semifinal matchup against No. 4 Wheeling Jesuit while Mercyhurst, ranked 15th in the USILA Poll, ousted No. 2 seed and ninth-ranked Lake Erie.
Credit the Lakers for advancing to the final, which just wasn’t an easy task against the Storm who have been regionally ranked and nationally ranked for almost the entire season.
Moran and John Hofseth scored three goals each for the Griffins while reigning offensive player of the week Zack Rusch netted a pair. Three-time defensive player of the week Jay Scerbo dominated the faceoff circle with 16 of his 19 won and added 15 ground balls collected.
Moran also had two assists and Eismann worked to earn the winning decision between the pipes with eight saves.
Le Moyne, Merrimack, Seton Hill and NYIT are the current order in the NCAA DII North Region rankings. The final ranking and NCAA Selection Show is tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET.